Martin Luther King Forwards a Letter to Rosa Parks


Martin Luther King Forwards a Letter to Rosa Parks

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Martin Luther King Forwards a Letter to Rosa Parks:
$5000.00


Martin Luther King Forwards a Letter to Rosa Parks

“Get this letter to Mrs Parks”

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Autograph Note written on retained copy of a Typed Letter by Maude L. Ballou. March 6, 1957, [Montgomery, Ala.], 1 p., 8 ½ x 11 in.

Inventory #23299

Historical Background

At the time of this letter, Rosa Parks was the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and had already gained fame by refusing to give up her seat on a municipal bus to a group of white passengers. On December 17, 1956, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of a U.S. District Court that that Alabama’s racial segregation laws on public transit were unconstitutional. Three days later, the Court ordered Alabama to desegregate its busses.

Just over a month later, on January 25, 1957, Myrtle Moore, membership secretary for the Palo Alto-Stanford Branch of the NAACP, wrote to Martin Luther King informing him that her “branch of NAACP ‘adopted’ the Montgomery branch for the year 1957, paying in to the New York headquarters $1,050.00 as dues for your branch.” She added that the youth members in California “have now become very much interested in knowing more about what is going on down there in the Southland, and they wish very much to become ‘pen pals’ with the YOUTH of your erstwhile branch.” Having a racially diverse group of youngsters, including “some white members, altho [sic] not as many as we would like to have,” she asks if the young people in Alabama would correspond with those in California.

Two months after that, on March 6, 1957, Maude L. Ballou, friend and personal secretary to King, sent a typed letter apologizing for the delayed response and explaining that “Through some error your encouraging and inspiring letter was misplace in the great flood of mail here in the office” and that “Rev. King left on February 26, for an extended tour of Africa and Europe . . . I would, however, like to express the gratitude of Rev. King and the people of Montgomery for the very kind gesture in our behalf.” This is that letter. Once he returned from the aforementioned trip, King wrote a short note in blue ink at the top of Mrs. Ballou’s letter asking her to send it on to Parks.

Condition

Fine. Lightly toned with small spots of foxing and smoothed folds.

SETH KALLER, INC.Historic Documents and Legacy Collections
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Martin Luther King Forwards a Letter to Rosa Parks:
$5000.00

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